How To Learn Hip Hop Dance

Ever since the days of The Beasties Boys up to the emergence of modern day phenomenon’s like Kendrick Lamar, dancing has been a major part of hip hop. It is one of the forms of expression that form the culture that is hip-hop.

Hip hop dancers have some of the best moves you will ever see anywhere. I mean, it really stands out from all forms of dancing be it contemporary, tap dance, tango, ballet, you name it. Hip hop dancing has a certain je ne sais quoi that makes it raw and exciting.

Most dancing styles are usually well-crafted and consist of a series of steps and movements that are to be followed to the later in order for the whole routine to pan out. Hip hop, on the other hand, is more about expression and less about routine. This is not to say that it doesn’t have routines. Actually, hip hop dancing is one of the few dances that can fit both into a routine and in a wild show off of pure skills. It is both wild and tame at the same time.

The question now is, how do you learn to dance hip hop? How do you learn how to “bust a move” and leave Chris Brown speechless with his mouth wide open?

Youtube Tutorials

Thank God for the internet. I don’t exactly know how people learned things easily in the past but YouTube videos make everything 10 times easier. YouTube has all kinds of experts, especially dancers. There are numerous YouTubers who have dedicated their lives to showing you some of the coolest and trendiest styles out there. You can learn trending moves like the “Milly Rock”, “Hit The Quan”, Dab and all that. You can also kick it old school with break dance, robot, jerkin and turfing.

Movies

If you are not aware of the “Step Up” movie series then you are definitely living under a rock. It is like the ultimate dance blueprint as far as movies go. Over its 5 series of movies, it has managed to incorporate everything from ballet to tango but one thing has always remained constant; the hip hops influence. There are other movies such as Stomp The Yard and You Got Served that show how diverse and evolutionary the dance is. Basically, nearly every generation has a hip hop dance movie to showcase its evolution.

Move By Move Research

Even though hip hop dance is freestyle and wild, there are a number of moves that are universally recognized and act as the building blocks for the whole shebang. These moves keep on being improvised every now and then with new ones being formed in every generation.

Therefore, since the foundation was already set a long time ago, you can google and research on the specific moves you are most interested in. The beauty of it is, you can only master like five concrete moves and be a kick ass on the dance floor. If you are into popping and feel like your strengths lie there, you can research it and learn every trick in the book. The same goes for the moonwalk or running man.